The Johns Hopkins COVID Dashboard for Friday, October 30, at 5:24 a.m.:

Worldwide cases:  45,192,450        Worldwide deaths:  1,183,400

U.S. cases: 8,955,035   U.S. deaths:  228,808

According to the Dashboard, the reported worldwide case report increased by 548,027  in the last 24 hours.  Deaths worldwide increased by 7,072.

According to the Johns Hopkins Dashboard, the United States has added 81,174 cases in the last 24 hours.    In the last day,  the number of reported deaths from  COVID-19 increased by 911.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s medical analyst, noted that in the first 9 months of the 1918 influenza pandemic, around 75,000 people in the United States died.  He said the U.S. population at that time was around 1/3 of what it is now.  Based on that, the current death toll of more than 225,000 –three times 75,000– in the COVID-19 pandemic is similar to what was experienced in the 1918 pandemic.

Regarding the 1918 pandemic, according to the CDC, “It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. Mortality was high in people younger than 5 years old, 20-40 years old, and 65 years and older. The high mortality in healthy people, including those in the 20-40 year age group, was a unique feature of this pandemic.”

In the current pandemic, those who succumb to COVID-19 are generally those over 60 years old, although people younger than that have had serious cases that require hospitalization, and some younger people have died.

The 1918 influenza pandemic was considered to have lasted from February 1918 to April 1920.  It infected 500 million people – about a third of the world’s population at the time – in four successive waves.

Medical experts still say it’s important to wear masks, avoid crowds, and wash hands frequently.  A recent article in Kaiser Health News noted that even once there is a vaccine, COVID-19 will not go away, and we should expect to continue preventive measures until enough people have the vaccine–and it’s proven to prevent or diminish the symptoms of COVID-19.

The 1918 flu pandemic, courtesy the CDC: